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I continually recommend that authors get book reviews—lots of them. And I occasionally provide you with directories of book reviewers. I also suggest that you check to find out who is reviewing books in your book’s category and attempt to contact them.

But the question comes up from time to time: what are the true benefits of book reviews? What if you get a bad review, does this discredit you and doom your book sales? Not necessarily. Everyone has an opinion. And yes, people can be swayed. But I believe that a book would have to be pretty awful and there would have to be many negative reviews before they would affect sales to any degree.

If I believe that, then why would I encourage book reviews at all? If reviews don’t deter people from buying a book, why would good reviews inspire people to buy it?

All good questions—something to ponder. And there are no absolute answers. The thing is, books need exposure. Readers won’t buy a book they don’t know exists. Reviews appearing at various review sites, published in magazines and newsletters, posted at Amazon.com, included in the author’s promo material and so forth compute as exposure for that book.

Simply showcase your book at your website, tell people you meet about it and sit with it at a book festival in the fall and 1,000 people may discover it. Do all of the above and also have it reviewed by even a dozen reviewers and it may get noticed by 10s of thousands more potential readers.

Do the math. If 2 percent of the people who see your book end up buying it, certainly, your pocketbook will benefit from wider exposure, right?

Over the last few days, we’ve discussed how to promote your book through your blog. Perhaps this has given you some ideas about how you can combine your book promotion efforts. For example, my articles, blog posts and speeches all participate in helping me to provide information and resources while promoting my books. And I get more mileage from each of them through recycling.

I create articles from my blog posts. I transform some of my articles into live presentations. And I devise blog posts from my speeches. I also create speeches from blog posts and blog posts from articles. And the resources for my handouts and other promo material sometimes come from articles and blog posts. It all works together—information isn’t wasted.

An article on book promotion might turn into a presentation on the 10 best book promotion techniques for new authors. A blog post featuring resources for authors may transition into a great handout for my audiences. A speech I give on how to choose a publisher might become an informative blog post.

This weekend, why don’t you spend time going through your articles related to the topic of your book and your blog posts and your speech themes and see how many of these you can recycle. You might be able to prepare a whole month’s worth of blog posts on the spot, come up with a few great new article ideas and freshen up your array of speech themes for some upcoming presentations.

For additional ideas for promoting your book, be sure to read Promote Your Book, Over 250 Proven, Low-Cost Tips and Techniques for the Enterprising Author. Then read Talk Up Your Book, How to Sell Your Book Through Public Speaking, Interviews, Signings, Festivals, Conferences and More. Both are available at amazon.com in print, Kindle and audio and at most other online and downtown bookstores.

1: Turn your blog entries into articles. Either submit them as is to appropriate sites and publications or tweak them to fit. Most of my blog entries are suitable for publishing, as I’m mindful to create stand-alone articles. Sometimes, however, a newsletter or magazine editor wants a longer piece or a more condensed version. Not a problem—I just rewrite the blog to fit their submission requirements. Of course, articles sell books. How? In a word: exposure.

• When you publish informative articles on the topic of your book, this adds to your professional credibility.
• You can usually add a few lines at the end of the article in which to promote your book and your blog.

2: Create handouts. Use specific blog entries as handouts when you promote your book through presentations, workshops or at book festivals. If yours is a local history book and your blog follows suit, your audiences would enjoy receiving those blog entries containing historical information that doesn’t appear in the book. Hand out your blog entries featuring additional tips, resources and information related to your self-help or how-to book. If you are promoting a novel or a book of poetry, delight your audience by handing out some of the short stories or new poems you post at your blog.

3: Compile a booklet of blog entries. If you’re a dedicated blogger, you could actually produce a booklet every six months or once a year and offer them free to anyone who purchases your book. Maybe you’ve written a novel featuring Americans who’ve chosen to live in the Middle East. Your blog, then, might follow some of the innovative things happening in the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Oman and Bahrain, for example. Report on positive accounts of the people, some of the amazing historical and newer architectural sites and interesting tidbits about the culture. Wouldn’t that make an interesting promotional tool?

4: Write a book based on your best blog subjects. Review your blog entries. If you’re like me, you may occasionally hit upon a topic that would make a good book. So start writing. With thought and research, your blog on the feral kitten you rescued over the summer might become a book featuring how to successfully raise a feral cat. If your current book features an aspect of pet care, this new book would make a great spin-off product. Your blog entry on how you created curb appeal that sold your home, could become an entire book for others who want to make an excellent impression when selling their properties. And what a great companion this would be for your book on family financing.

You started blogging because you heard that blogs sell books. Use these tips and you’ll reach even more people and sell even more books.

A blog can be many things and serve many purposes. When you have a book to promote, it makes sense to turn your blog into a promotional tool. Whether your book is a historical novel, a how-to gardening book, a memoir or a book of poetry, let your blog entries spread the word and you will sell more books. Here are four ideas for using your blog to promote your book:

1: Stay focused on your topic. Make sure that you are providing the information your audience wants in a way that makes it palatable. Stay on track when adding to your blog so that you are always addressing your target audience. Sure you can write about something personal if you want, but try to tie it into your primary topic.

2: Use numerous keywords. If your audience is seeking information about gardening in the northwest, continually use words in your blog entries that your potential audience would use in an Internet search.

3: Participate at other blog sites. Search out blogs on your topic by using your favorite search engine or by using Google Alerts http.google.com/alerts Leave comments, ask to be interviewed, ask to be a guest blogger, offer articles and other information.

4: Offer freebies. Do you sometimes wonder if you’re being read? Offer free items or run contests from time to time. I know one author who offered a $100 prize to the 100th person who purchased her book. I offer a free ebooklet—something that includes information or tips that may or may not be included in the book that I’m currently pitching. You’ll find out how many people are reading your blog by the number who download your freebie.

Tomorrow, I’ll share another four ways to promote your book through your blog.

Catnapped
Sales appear to be up for Catnapped, A Klepto Cat Mystery. It’s a Kindle book sold through Amazon. I’m still waiting for more reviews. I continue to receive encouraging words with regard to this (my first) novel, and I hope that readers will post them at the Catnapped page. http://amzn.to/14OCk0W

Yesterday, I listed 22 things you will learn by reading Publish Your Book, Proven Strategies and Resources for the Enterprising Author. Here are two dozen more:

• How to determine which “self-publishing” company is best.
• How to build and add to your platform.
• How to build marketability into your book—make it more salable.
• How to get your book into bookstores.
• How to work with booksellers.
• How to locate specialty stores to display and sell your books.
• How to work a book festival so it works for you.
• The benefits of blogging
• How to come up with ideas for your blog
• How to make sales using your massive email list
• How to get on radio and TV
• How to sell books through articles and excerpts
• How to use seasonal prompts to sell books
• Why you should donate books.
• How to ship books.
• How to boost sales through spin offs.
• How to get book reviews
• How to sell your book as a premium or incentive.
• Why you should involve others when writing your nonfiction book.
• How to have a successful book signing.
• How to locate and approach book reviewers
• How to get an ISBN,
• How to launch a virtual book tour.
• How to promote your book through social media.
• How can you get a merchant account?
• A dozen ways to build a more successful website.

Well, I lied—there are twenty-six more things you will learn when you read Publish Your Book—that is 48 things in all. And this is just the tip of the iceberg.

Do you have questions about publishing or book promotion? Sure you do. Order this book and keep it at your elbow throughout the writing, publishing and book promotion process as you will refer to it over and over again.

Purchase this book at amazon.com in print, Kindle or audio. You can also order it from my website. http://www.matilijapress.com/PublishYourBook.html

News From the Cats
The ranking for Catnapped is up, up, up this weekend. That could mean that people are buying it. If you enjoy a cozy mystery involving cats, be sure to order your copy for your Kindle reader. http://amzn.to/14OCk0W If you have read it, please leave a review. For more about the progress of this book and for cute pictures of cats, follow my Catscapades blog here: http://www.matilijapress.com/catscapades

Today, I’m going to attempt something I’ve never tried with this blog before. I’m going to try to insert an image. I have been including images in my Catscapades blog for a couple of years, but did not know I had that option in this blog. If it appears, you’ll be looking at the cover image of Promote Your Book. I talk about this book often in my blog posts. That’s because this is the book you should read before you launch out and publish a book. This book will give you much more than an inkling about the complex publishing industry and it provides the tools and information you need in order to take the next step after you publish your book. As you will soon learn, promotion is the hardest part of the publishing business. And when you publish a book, you’ve entered into a fiercely competitive business.

If there is anything about book promotion that you are not well-informed about, that you know nothing about or that you wonder about, order this book today.
Promote Your Book is available in print, Kindle and audio at amazon and most other online and downtown bookstores. Or order it here http://www.matilijapress.com

My books and information are getting noticed. Some of you may have seen my article on getting testimonials for your book in the Book Promotion Newsletter today. It’s a newsletter I recommend for authors who have books to promote.

How many of you also received an ad from Amazon this morning with a list of recommended books? Catnapped, a Klepto Cat Mystery was at the top of the list. I heard from a few readers who received this. Let me know if you got it. In the meantime, you can order your Kindle copy of Catnapped—a cozy mystery involving cats (no talking cat). http://amzn.to/14OCk0W

I had a conversation with an author/friend last week about book promotion. She wondered how early one should start promoting his/her book. I told her that it is never too soon to start some promotional activities. She has been speaking on the topic of her upcoming book, she has a dynamite website up and running, she is handing out brochures…and she started all of this about a year ago. Only thing is, she still doesn’t have a book. People keep asking her, “When?” And all she can say in response is, “I don’t know. I’ll have to contact you.” Hopefully, she has their contact information.

This author has read my books, attended some of my lectures and even invited me to do a segment at her writers club meetings. And she’s heard me suggest that it is never too early to start promoting your book. However, I would further recommend some activities over others. Here’s what I suggest for authors in any genre/topic:
• Collect email addresses and amass a huge email list.
• Build a website and offer freebies related to your book. Have them sign up.
• Submit articles/stories in your theme/genre to appropriate publications.
• Join a Toastmasters club to hone your public speaking and conversation skills.
• Talk about your book everywhere you go. Ask for business cards.
• Arrange for a publicity photo to use at your website, on promo material, etc.
• Start designing your promo material.
• Get on social media sites—facebook, twitter…

Once you know your book will be published:
• Solicit pre-publication reviews for the library journals.
• Solicit pre-publication orders, but not until the book is just weeks from being published.
• Start setting up speaking engagements.
• Sign up for booths at book festivals.
• Start communicating with those on your email list.

For a nonfiction book, engage in the activities above plus:
• Conduct workshops related to the theme of your book, where appropriate.
• Do a little public speaking, but don’t cross any bridges. In other words, save the most impressive gigs where you have only one shot to speak until after the book is published.
• If your book is an informational book or how-to, consider establishing an enewsletter. Use it to announce the progress of your book as well as provide useful information and resources for your followers.

Yes, there is quite a bit that you can do before your book is a book, but try to be reasonable in your timeline. Make eager readers wait too long and they will forget all about you. And don’t use up the best opportunities—such as important speaking gigs with large audiences until you actually have a book to sell.

Purrrsonally Speaking
I’m revising my brochure to include Catnapped. I’m also rewriting some of my bios—such as the one going in the program for the Public Safety Writers Association (Police Writers) where I’ll be the keynote speaker at their conference in Las Vegas in a few weeks. Many of the members are mystery and crime writers/readers. Can’t wait to see how Catnapped is accepted among these professionals. News of a contest for animal writers just came across my desk. I may enter Catnapped. Busy, busy.